Flora of North America species comparison

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Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus masonii

Lemmon's ceanothus

Bolinas ceanothus, Mason's ceanothus
Habit Shrubs, evergreen, 0.5–1 m. Stems ascending to spreading, not rooting at nodes; branchlets pale green to grayish green and glaucous, not thorn-tipped, round in cross section, flexible to ± rigid, sparsely villosulous. Shrubs, 0.6–2 m. Stems erect to ascending, not rooting at nodes; branchlets dark brown, rigid, ± tomentulose.
Leaves

petiole 2–6 mm;

blade flat, narrowly elliptic to oblong-elliptic, 13–35 × 6–15 mm, base cuneate to rounded, margins serrulate to denticulate most of length, not revolute, not wavy, teeth 34–45, apex acute to obtuse, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green and glaucous, villosulous, especially on veins, adaxial surface green, strigillose; pinnately veined or weakly 3-veined from base.

not fascicled;

petiole 1–2 mm;

blade flat, usually elliptic or oval, sometimes suborbiculate, 7–21 × 4–13 mm, base rounded to ± cuneate, margins not revolute, denticulate most of length, teeth 9–17, apex obtuse, rounded to truncate, abaxial surface pale green to grayish green, strigose on veins, glabrate, adaxial surface dark green, glabrous.
Inflorescences

axillary or terminal, umbel-like to racemelike, 2–6.5 cm.

axillary, 1–2.5 cm.
Flowers

sepals, petals, and nectary pale to deep blue.

sepals, petals, and nectary deep blue to purple.
Capsules

3–4 mm wide, lobed near apex;

valves smooth, crested.

3–4 mm wide, not lobed;

valves smooth, horns apical, minute, not rugose, intermediate ridges absent.
2n

= 24.

= 24.

Ceanothus lemmonii

Ceanothus masonii
Phenology Flowering Apr–May. Flowering Feb–Apr.
Habitat Rocky slopes and flats, open sites, conifer forests, oak and pine woodlands. Soils derived from serpentine, chaparral, pine forests.
Elevation 200–1300 m. (700–4300 ft.) 100–500 m. (300–1600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ceanothus lemmonii occurs in the inner North Coast Ranges, Klamath Mountains, and the western slope of the Cascade Range and northern Sierra Nevada. H. McMinn (1944) reported putative hybrids with C. foliosus, C. integerrimus, and C. oliganthus var. sorediatus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Ceanothus masonii occurs only at a few localities on Bolinas Ridge, Marin County. With the exception of its leaf morphology, it bears a close resemblance to C. gloriosus var. exaltatus.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 12, p. 94. FNA vol. 12, p. 103.
Parent taxa Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Ceanothus Rhamnaceae > Ceanothus > subg. Cerastes
Sibling taxa
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. masonii, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
C. americanus, C. arboreus, C. arcuatus, C. confusus, C. cordulatus, C. crassifolius, C. cuneatus, C. cyaneus, C. dentatus, C. divergens, C. diversifolius, C. fendleri, C. ferrisiae, C. foliosus, C. fresnensis, C. gloriosus, C. griseus, C. hearstiorum, C. herbaceus, C. impressus, C. incanus, C. integerrimus, C. jepsonii, C. lemmonii, C. leucodermis, C. maritimus, C. martini, C. megacarpus, C. microphyllus, C. oliganthus, C. ophiochilus, C. otayensis, C. palmeri, C. papillosus, C. parryi, C. parvifolius, C. pauciflorus, C. perplexans, C. pinetorum, C. prostratus, C. pumilus, C. purpureus, C. roderickii, C. sanguineus, C. sonomensis, C. spinosus, C. thyrsiflorus, C. tomentosus, C. velutinus, C. verrucosus
Name authority Parry: Proc. Davenport Acad. Nat. Sci. 5: 192. (1889) — (as lemmoni) McMinn: Madroño 6: 171. (1942)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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